


Paperwork and Diplomacy

by Rhianona



Series: au-bingo [2]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Gen, au bingo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-05
Updated: 2011-03-05
Packaged: 2017-10-16 03:11:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/167794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhianona/pseuds/Rhianona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gwen gets a surprise visitor while finishing up paperwork.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Paperwork and Diplomacy

Gwen hummed as she entered the Hub; to her surprise, none of her teammates were present. Frowning, she headed to her desk to see if someone had taken the time to leave her a note on just where they had disappeared.

 _Gwen —_

 _Out on a Weevil alert. Coffee is ready in the kitchen. Jack wants you to finish up the report from the V’laxian meet and greet._

 _—IJ_

She huffed, a bit disappointed that she had been left behind but she also had to admit, a bit guiltily, that she’d been putting off her paperwork and there was only so many excuses she could make before Ianto switched her to decaf. Best to get it over with — but nothing cured the sting of doing reports than Ianto’s coffee. And with no one in the Hub but her, she could pay homage to the delicious beverage without anyone teasing her.

It didn’t take long for Gwen to return to her desk, her mug made just as she liked it, and to become involved in writing what had been a typical V’laxian meeting. Or at least, that was what Jack had claimed. Sometimes, she didn’t know whether to take him at his word but considering Tosh hadn’t smirked, Owen hadn’t snickered, and Ianto hadn’t rolled his eyes, she figured he wasn’t exaggerating.

So deep was she in her work, determined to finish it up before the rest of the team returned to limit the amount of teasing she’d get, that it took her several moment to realize the white rabbit sitting patiently on her desk and watching her wasn’t a figment of her imagination.

“Wha…?” Gwen almost dropped her mug and the coffee sloshed over the side as she put it down a lot more forcefully than she had intended. Brow furrowed with confusion, she stared at the creature she could have sworn had not been present a few moments ago. “Since when do we have rabbits in the Hub?” she asked, her voice echoing.

She moved closer to it, reaching out with a hand to touch it.

“I’d rather you not, if it’s all the same,” a dignified male voice announced and she shrieked in surprise, jumping backwards and tripping over her chair.

“Ow…” she muttered from the floor. Peeking up through her fringe, she could see the bunny had maneuvered itself to the edge of the desk and seemed to be peering over it to look at her with concern.

“I say, dear lady, are you alright? That looked like a bit of a terrible tumble,” she heard. She looked around wildly, trying to figure out from where the voice emanated but she still remained alone in the Hub. Alone, except for the white rabbit.

“Um…” she stuttered and cautiously retook her feet. She wondered if someone had doctored the coffee left in the kitchen, or if some sort of toxin had made it into the Hub without setting off the bio hazard alarms. Because, for the life of her, she could have sworn the rabbit had spoken. To her.

“Well, you look alright. I don’t suppose you know when the rest of your team are returning, do you? It’s just that and this is terribly embarrassing, but I’m supposed to rendezvous with the rest of my ship later today and I want to make sure we have enough time for all the negotiations and formalities.”

“Uh… I…” Gwen didn’t know how to respond. She had seen many amazing things since starting at Torchwood, but never before had she encountered a talking rabbit. A talking, sentient rabbit who was, apparently, a representative of his (Was it a male? It sounded male, but did that actually mean anything?) race.

The rabbit stared at her patiently, waiting for a reply. Gwen shook her head and gathered her composure.

“I can… I can ring up Tosh or Ianto and see what their status is,” she offered; the rabbit nodded its head regally and waited. She backed up some more and fumbled to grab her mobile. She found it very disconcerting to be acting on the wishes of what looked like a common household pest (or pet depending on one’s background) but she also didn’t want to be the cause of an international incident. Torchwood had Jack for that.

She pasted a smile on her lips as she waited for someone to pick up their mobile, silently cursing the incident that had fried the comms system yesterday. Both Ianto and Tosh had been livid and Jack and Owen had skulked around with apologetic eyes.

“Hello,” Ianto answered; he sounded tired and frazzled, leaving Gwen to wonder just what had happened with a simple Weevil retrieval.

“Ianto, it’s Gwen,” she said. “Do you think you’ll be much longer?”

“Hopefully not,” he replied. “Jack wants you to stay at the Hub, even if you’ve finished the paperwork.”

“Of course he does,” she said. “Look, there’s someone here and well, he’s on a bit of a timetable, so how long do you think it’ll be?”

“Oh damn,” Ianto said. She could picture how he’d look, head down, eyes closed, fingers from one hand crossed over his nose as he considered the implications and fought down annoyance. “The Drot ambassador is there already. I’m sorry Gwen. I thought we’d have returned by now.” She hummed in response and looked back at the ambassador, who politely gazed back at her. She flashed him a smile and turned back to face the other wall.

“It’s alright,” Gwen assured him, familiar with how Torchwood had a tendency to mess with set plans.

“Right, so we’re finishing up now,” he told her. “Give us twenty.”

“Sounds good,” she said and snapped closed her mobile. She took a deep breath and fixed a bright smile on her face and returned her attention to her guest. “It looks like they’ll be another twenty minutes or so. Can I get you any refreshments whilst we wait?”

As Gwen served refreshments to the ambassador, she could only reflect that only in Torchwood would she meet a sentient rabbit species and serve it coffee.

 _/fin_

**Author's Note:**

> Written for au_bingo for the prompt: Other: Animal (anthropomorphic or not)
> 
> Takes place sometime during season 2.


End file.
